| FlDebra | 12-28-2010 10:14 AM | Obama Calls Eagles, Congrats on Signing Vick ShareretweetEmailPrintMon Dec 27 09:26am EST
"Obama calls Eagles owner to congratulate him for signing Vick
By Chris Chase
Michael Vick(notes) has been getting support from all sides during his road to redemption. He's now getting it from the leader of the free world.
NBC's Peter King reports that Barack Obama called Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie earlier this week to congratulate him for giving Vick a second chance after his release from prison. According to King, the president said that released prisoners rarely receive a level playing field and that Vick's story could begin to change that.
Forget your political allegiances or feelings about Michael Vick and take a step back to think about this. The sitting president of the United States went out of his way to publicly praise a man who, 3 1/2 years ago, many thought would never play again in the NFL. Even the most ardent believers in Vick couldn't have fathomed a turn-around like this.
In retrospect it seems obvious that Vick would get a second chance in the NFL, but it wasn't so clear-cut back when he was lying to the commissioner, getting sternly admonished in federal court and serving out a sentence at Leavenworth. We tend to take for granted unbelievable events when they slowly unfold before our eyes. The step-by-step nature of these sorts of tales tend to minimize the shock when taken in over a long process. So though it now seems like it was all pre-destined to work out like this, it wasn't: Vick's rise and fall and rise is a truly stunning tale. He went from star to pariah to inmate to backup to MVP candidate to political prop for the leader of the free world all in a span of a couple years."
While I do think those who pay their debt and are truly repentent should get another chance, I find it TOTALLY INAPPROPRIATE for the President of the United States to reach out and make such a powerful gesture in support of someone like Vick!!! There are so many more deserving people he could give his support to!! This burns me up! What was he thinking? How about calling some troops and thanking them for signing their re-enlistment papers? How about calling some Doctors without Borders and thanking them for signing on for another trip? How about.....anything other than supporting an animal abusing, liar like Vick!! |